A no-snow skier has shed some light on the unusual sport after people were spotted skiing on the roads in Cornwall.

Ruth Osborne, from Newquay, said her hobby is one of the hardest forms of cardiovascular exercise.

Cornwall Live spoke with Ruth, a physiotherapist, after previously reporting on other sighting of men skiing along sunny roads across the county.

Ruth says that she has been rollerskiing for some time now and is hoping to become a qualified instructor.

She said: “I have been rollerskiing since last year and am looking into setting up a club/rollerski holidays in Cornwall, which I would like to help raise money for the charity the Armed Forces Para Snowsport Team.

One of Cornwall's few rollerskiers Ruth Osborne

“I am currently working towards getting qualified as an instructor and have been looking at venues to train.

“I went out to Finland with the GB paranordic ski team last year as a neurological physiotherapist and rollerskiing is the no-snow method to train for cross country skiing.

“It can be adapted for disabled skiers and actually a veteran has just set a new world record for Lands End to John O'Groats in a sit ski. He passed through Cornwall at the beginning of April.

“I was only aware of one other rollerskier in Cornwall, and he was the founder of Gul wetsuits and is now in his 80’s.

“I find rollerskiing an excellent method to cross train for triathlon as it is one of the hardest forms of cardiovascular exercise. It is very popular in pockets across the country but does not seem popular in Cornwall as yet.”

Ruth Osbourne, actually with snow this time

Ruth, who is using rollerskiing to train for a long-distance event, says the ideal conditions for rollerskiing are long stretches of flat, smooth tarmac, something quite rare in Cornwall.

Rollerskiing is also popular with former runners who find running too much of a strain on their joints, due to its low impact nature.

She added: “Most rollerski have non-inflatable wheels meaning they are only really suited to smooth tarmac but I’ve got some with inflatable wheels which means off-road is a bit more of a possibility.

“I get funny looks all the time but occasionally I come across someone familiar with cross country skiing who knows it’s how we train with no snow.”